SENATE, EFCC REACT TO NFIU ACT, SEPARATION FROM EFCC

By: Jumoke Olasoji

In his fight against corruption, the Nigerian president, Mohammadu Buhari has signed the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) Act into law.

The NFIU is said to be signed into law to strengthen the recently signed Executive Order 006 and enhance the administartion’s fight against corruption especially in the area of money laundering and terrorism financing.

This was made known by Mr Ita Enang, a special adviser to the president on legislative matters. 

In his address to State House correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja, Mr, Ita Enang, explained that the signing of the NFIU Act, makes the NFIU independent of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but entertained in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), while it remains “autonomous and Independent”.

He explained further that this is in line with the requirements of Recommendation 29 of the Financial Action Task Force Standards and Article 14 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

To this end, the two chambers of Nigeria’s National Assembly passed the NFIU bill on March 7 this year.

ROLE OF THE NFIU

The NFIU Unit develops financial intelligence by analyzing the financial transaction reports it receives from the many reporting entities - such as banks, securities dealers, money service businesses, hotels, car dealers, casinos, etc that are required, by law, to make reports.

NFIU's mandate also includes ensuring compliance with Part 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004. Under Part 1, entities that must report to the Unit are required to report specific transactions, keep particular records, and verify customer identities.

A proper compliance regime ensures that the NFIU receives the quantity and quality of reports it requires to produce solid financial intelligence and assures law enforcement and security agencies of quick access to information because of improved client identification and record keeping practices.

In other words, by creating compliance regimes that conform to the law, entities become part of a larger effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. In making sure that entities comply with their obligations, NFIU takes a co-operative approach.

While exercising its mandate at ensuring compliance, the Unit is committed to working with the reporting entities by fostering partnerships that enhances the integrity of Nigeria's financial system which promotes greater public safety. NFIU is empowered to undertake "compliance examinations" to ensure that reporting entities meet the obligations of the law.


Mr Enang on Wednesday said the new NFIU is now “independent and operationally autonomous body institutionally domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.”


He also said the new act has now dissolved “the Nigeria financial intelligence unit established in the EFCC Act and consequentially amends the Economic and Financial Commission Act, the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act among others.

“One of the key objectives of the Act is the creation of a legal, institutional and regulatory framework to ensure transparency, effective and efficient and management administration and operation of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

“Also the bill will institutionalise best practices in financial intelligence management in Nigeria and strengthen the existing system for combating money laundering and associated predicated offences, financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

“The Act, which makes the unit an autonomous body, makes provision for the unit to exchange information with financial intelligence institutions or similar bodies in other countries in matters relating to money laundering, terrorist financing activities and other predicated offences.”

THE SENATE'S RESPONSE
Reacting to the signage of the act,  some members of the senate has tagged the move as "hasty and premature".

Another senator said by signing the Act ' in such manner and hurry, Mr President is "undermiming the Judiciary and Democracy at large"
 

 Also, The EFCC and some anti-corruption experts were opposed to the total separation of the NFIU from the EFCC.

EFCC'S VIEW
Speaking on the Act, former Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, warned earlier this year when the idea was being proposed,  against removing the NFIU from the EFCC describing it as a setback for the country.

“I feel sad that they want to take the NFIU away from EFCC. This will set us back,” he said.

 “What we did with NFIU was to bring Nigeria at par with the rest of the world in terms of financial regulations and tracing suspicious deals.”

Also, in his own words against the separation of NFIU from EFCC, the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said at an interactive session with editors in August 2017, that efforts to create a “stand-alone’’ NFIU was needless.

“This is another way of corruption fighting back; people are fighting and pretending to be in support of what is ongoing, but they are not giving a face to the fight against corruption,” he said.

“I am not opposed to the autonomy of the NFIU; in fact the NFIU has always been operationally autonomous.

“I understand the workings of Financial Intelligence Units around the world and they are domiciled in law enforcement agencies based on their credibility”